Known To Be The Loveliest Type
by Kukasabe Swift
Summary: Kakashi had many unspoken chapters in his life, yet there was one concerning his time in ANBU. It wasn't all missions there, not when the exceedingly peculiar Vole inserted herself into his life. Though he hated to admit it, Kakashi was thankful she did. "You're wearing a mask too. Unless you take it off, I won't take mine off."
1. Let Me Tell You A Story

This is a pilot prologue ;P

GLOSSARY:

ANT = Anbu Ninja Team(s)

* * *

Looking back, Hatake Kakashi recalled the time when ANBU truly prospered.

No, he wasn't thinking about sudden climbs in mission completion rates. Many people mistook ANBU as a government faction consisting of shinobi who would work eighteen hours a day being bloodthirsty killing machines. That was far from what Kakashi was thinking. True, ANBU was like that. But there was a certain time where the moments in between missions stopped being so... bleak.

Well, headquarters back then wasn't what you'd call bleak. ANBU would converse amongst each other about promotions, injuries or some rogue ninja they'd killed in some far off land. They'd spar with each other, usually because some big guy kept boasting on about some rogue ninja they'd killed in some far off land (Genma), and another wouldn't believe him (Aoba), and so one bet the other to prove it. It would be like that everyday, when they weren't busy killing rogue ninjas in some far off land. The place wasn't bleak. Kakashi was.

Most of the time it was him writing report after report. Afterwards, it was memorial stone time where Kakashi would just sit there and grieve for three hours at most, before he'd get restless. He'd go walk around and go back to his boring room and sleep.

Back then his life was insanely tedious, that was until a new recruit known only as 'Vole' joined the team.

He didn't deny it, even now. He'd hated Vole. She was mysterious, and yet with a snap of her fingers all men would serve her like a harem of butlers. Not that she did, although she had the power to. Genma and Raido were quick to accept her, the idiots. Even Tenzo found a new admiration for the violet-haired kunoichi.

It was him who didn't fall for her, because Kakashi knew she was hiding something, starting with her identity. Vole was too mysterious, too suspicious.

Kakashi grudgingly accepted the task of keeping an eye on her, because he was sure that she was a traitor. What he didn't know was that he would be solving the most complicated mission of his life.

Love.

He sighed, as the copy-nin further hid his face behind his Icha Icha novel. It was an impossible S-Rank. _Love,_ Kakashi replayed in his head.

He really did like her mask back then.


	2. The Woman Named Vole

10 YEARS AGO, Third Training Ground, 11:50 AM

* * *

Same time, same place. A man sat before the block of stone with silver hair still dappled with faint hints of crimson. Hatake Kakashi didn't even change after the fateful mission.

He knew that the block of stone wasn't any ordinary stone- it was the KIA memorial where their names were engraved. NAMIKAZE MINATO. NOHARA RIN. UCHIHA OBITO. He would never forget them, especially his best friend. Silently, Kakashi traced their names with his finger. The surface was rough.

Another name had almost been added to the memorial. Kakashi would never forgive himself if he had to trace his finger on Tenzo's name as well. It would be a guilty reminder that he couldn't protect Tenzo at that fateful mission, and that he let four of the people he cared most die.

But to his relief, Tenzo hadn't died. The team's rookie was just in critical condition, but not dead. Kakashi had checked with the doctors while he was at the hospital having his injuries bandaged, and they said that Tenzo would be awake the next day. Kakashi made sure to add hospital visits to his schedule, besides _these_ visits.

A whiff of chakra plagued the air. Kakashi didn't bother turning around. He knew it was one of the ANBU agents, the ones dressed in the normal garb of the porcelain mask and the oh-so mysterious cloak.

"What is it?" he asked, sagging his shoulders.

"This concerns Tiger from your team." The voice was terribly monotone. "As you know, Tiger is hospitalized and so will not be able to participate in missions. Therefore, Hokage-sama has assigned you a temporary member."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. He knew his team was the best of the best. You didn't get in unless you were powerful enough to be on par with the great Dog himself, sharingan or not. Considering Tenzo's status, and the standard criteria of ANT (Anbu Ninja Teams), there would be no doubt that he'd get one of the young recruits.

"-has agreed to meet up with your team at the Sixth Training Ground as of now. I presume that you might want to engage in a spar to-"

"I accept," Kakashi interrupted with a wave of his hand. "I will meet with him shortly."

"Uh, sir-"

There was a sharp flare of chakra. Kakashi turned around, a dismissive look upon his face.

"Ah-" The ANBU faltered before bowing- "Sorry."- and quickly shunshined out of the training ground, where the air had greatly tensed.

Kakashi was really not in the mood. Too many things had happened in such a short span of time. He stood up as he sighed, ready to go and meet the new member. Whoever it was, Kakashi would make sure he wouldn't form any permanent bonds. After all, it was only temporary.

Tenzo would be back. He'd definitely be back.

The copy-nin yawned as he walked. He hadn't been able to sleep. He had executed the mission at night, brought a fatally wounded Tenzo at dawn, written a report at the morning and was now going to meet a stranger in the middle of the day.

Ah, well. At least he was going for a walk.

[~-~]

"Ohayo, Captain!"

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "Genma, it's twelve in the afternoon."

"Really? Well, I've just lost track of time then." With each word, the senbon in Genma's mouth bobbed like a seesaw. "So, how are you?"

Kakashi shrugged as he stood with them in the middle of a clearing. The Sixth Training Ground wasn't the fanciest of places considering how it only had a stump and an open space. "I'm fine."

"You look like crap," commented Raido.

"I'm fine." Kakashi repeated. He was lying, of course. His head throbbed, his limbs felt sore and even when he had it shut, the sharingan continued to ache. Still, he couldn't miss the smiles of his fellow teammates. "Why are you two so happy?"

"What do you mean?" said Genma, if a bit cheerily. "Don't you know who's going to be in the team?"

"No."

"He doesn't know." Genma elbowed Raido, eyes wild with mischief. Kakashi raised an eyebrow. He had seen that look too many times. "What _don't_ I know?" he asked, crossing his arms.

Raido was the one to reply. "Didn't an ANBU tell you about her?"

Kakashi blinked. "_Her?_"

"He really doesn't know." Genma elbowed Raido once more. "He doesn't know about Vole."

"Who?" Kakashi had to do a double take. Her? Vole? His mind was whirring. The name sounded familiar. At the mess hall- "Wait a minute-"

"Hello?"

All eyes turned to the foreign chakra source. As they looked behind them, Kakashi caught sight of her. She was a lean woman dressed in black pants and a long-sleeved shirt, which was mostly covered by a gray vest of some sort. The two kunai holsters strapped to her thighs seemed to be the only weapons she carried. In short, her attire wasn't overly interesting. As for her face, it was concealed by a porcelain mask which sported the same animal design as her name. Behind it was short, trimmed hair that was a dull violet, even in the sunlight.

Kakashi scoffed. This was the temporary member?

"Ah, Vole! You've finally arrived!" Genma walked over to her, playing the nice-guy card. Kakashi sighed- the poor woman didn't know what what was in store for her. Genma was the worse when it came to hitting on women.

"So," Genma continued, casually slinging an arm over Vole's shoulder, "what is a woman like you doing in the ranks of ANBU? You must be really strong to be chosen for our humble, humble team. Right?" He glanced over to the two.

Kakashi merely shrugged. From the corner of his eye, he could see the composed figure of Raido, seemingly fine.

How ironic. Kakashi could feel the tendrils of jealousy sprouting from him- at least that's what Raido's current chakra felt, anyway. Raido must've been angry that Genma beat him to Vole, and that was obvious in his words, "Of course we're a hardworking team. Oh, except for Genma, he's just impractical."

Genma gritted on his senbon. "I'm not impractical. I do my work, and unlike you, I do it _properly_."

"What makes you say that? I'm the best here at assassination."

"Yeah, if assassination meant gutting the insides of a woman, who by the way was a _mother_."

"Hey, I wasn't the one who decapitated six kids in the dark. Besides, you nearly welcomed an enemy nin into our base!"

"You did something worse! You nearly told them confidential information about Konoha!"

"You didn't follow the brief! You let one of the targets survive!"

"I left a _kid_ alive."

"And that somehow makes up for decapitating _six_?!"

By the name of Kami, his head was about to explode. Kakashi just couldn't understand why two of his best men were fighting over a woman. A _woman_. It was infuriating. Without hesitation, Kakashi opened his sharingan as he focused on the bickering idiots. A nice, simple genjutsu would work. The subject would obviously be the woman who was watching the two with an innocent face.

That irked him.

"Huh? Wait, Vole!" Genma was the first to be caught in it, the idiot. Raido, of course, followed suit. Kakashi made it as though 'Vole' had moved to another spot. It was child's play, really. If the two regained their senses, they would notice the illusion straightaway.

Kakashi sighed. He missed Tenzo at times like these.

"Arigato," said a voice. Kakashi recognized it to be Vole's. "Captain, is it?" she asked.

"Yes," he deadpanned.

"Ah. You must be Dog. I've heard much about you, especially about your sharingan."

_Everybody_ talked about his sharingan. Kakashi would be so annoyed when random ANBU started asking him about it. The questions would be so stupid- ("How do you activate it?" "Do you really see the future?" "How does it spin?" "Does it work?")- that he'd probably would've choked them with his chakra.

Now, he'd heard about Vole before. It was at the mess hall, and Genma and Raido and all the other men of ANBU were drooling over some new recruit. Kakashi payed no attention to them, but his ears did perk up over something. Apparently Vole was a soloist, and a powerful one to boot. She took on an A-Rank by herself when new ANBU normally did B-Ranks.

He would've listened more had the topic not changed to something more adult-related.

There was a moment of silence. After a while, Vole pointed to the two figures in the distance. "Badger and Hawk, I'm guessing?"

Kakashi nodded. "I see," said the woman. "They're an interesting pair. Are they usually the type to be shallow?"

"Towards women."

"But not at duty, right? Because that would be a problem. If I were to be a distraction for them in missions then I'll gladly leave the team."

Kakashi didn't like those who curried favor. "You can do that now."

To his surprise, Vole chuckled. "You seem so sure that I'll be a bother. Don't fret. After all, it's only temporary."

Kakashi didn't even have time to process her words before the genjutsu suddenly dispelled. He was confused as to how, but he realized that the culprit was the woman beside him.

Vole picked up on his indirect-chakra-flare question, "What? I wanted to put them out of their misery. Why, do you want to talk privately?"

"No." Kakashi narrowed an eye. Why was this woman so casual? Not only that, she talked to him with ease, and dispelled a genjutsu without uttering a single word or performing any seal. It irked him, and he would find out why. Kakashi checked her chakra signature.

It was... bland. Almost like a template. There was no special trait in it. Kakashi pushed deeper, intent on finding something. Anything. And he did, only it wasn't something he expected. It wasn't an emotion, or a color. It was something that flickered on and off. He couldn't pinpoint it, but he could describe it.

Terror. It was like bottomless terror.

"What are you hiding?" he suddenly asked.

"What makes you think I'm hiding anything?" countered Vole, finally facing him. Kakashi saw a pair of amber eyes from the holes of the mask. They stared at him, unmoving. "The only thing I'm hiding is my face."

Or identity. Kakashi wondered why she hadn't taken it off yet. It seemed as though she never did- at the mess hall, she even ate with it _on_. "You don't have to hide it," said Kakashi. "It would put them out of their misery too."

"I... don't think so."

"Why not?"

"Because it's fair," she replied, almost haughtily. "You're wearing a mask too. Unless you take it off, I won't take mine off."

Damn it. He didn't think she would stoop that low. "I-"

"Take what off, Captain?" Genma's face suddenly appeared in between them. "I hope you don't mean any clothing!"

Kakashi glared at him, while Vole merely chuckled. "Not at all, Badger," she said. "Captain and I were only talking about our masks."

"You won't get far," came the voice of Raido, who shoved Genma away. "Captain is very clingy to his mask. He never takes it off."

"Why not?" asked Vole, curious.

Genma snickered. "'Cause if he does then all the women of Konoha will follow him like lambs."

"I see." Vole turned to Kakashi. "Don't worry, I'm not superficial. It won't matter what you look like."

"I'm not taking it off," barked Kakashi. "You take your mask off."

"I'm afraid that-"

As expected, Genma and Raido appeared in front of the kunoichi with a _look_ in their eyes.

"We'd love to see your face!"

"Yeah, Vole, There's no need to be shy!"

Meanwhile, Kakashi groaned.

Vole looked overwhelmed. "I'm sorry, Badger, Hawk. I'm not that comfortable with showing my face. Besides, I'm only in the team until Cat recovers. It's best not to get friendly with each other."

"What do you mean? Us ANBU can loosen up once in a while." Genma gave her a wink. "Let's compromise. If we stop bugging you with the mask, you go out for dinner with me."

Raido went wide-eyed. "What?! Why does she go with you?!"

"I asked_ first_."

"Now, now, let's not fight." Behind her firm tone, Vole seemed amused. "Why don't we all go for dinner? It'll be just us four."

"No," said Kakashi. "I'd rather eat alone."

Vole cocked her head like a bird. "Eat? I was thinking of doing one in midnight, so I'm not sure if the mess hall will still be open."

The three men looked at her in confusion.

Raido broke the silence. "What are you talking about?"

"Mission," was the reply.

Silence.

"Uh, Vole, when we say dinner we mean 'people-eat-food' dinner," explained Genma, "not missions."

"Oh." The kunoichi scratched her head awkwardly. "Sorry. Back then, we used to refer dinner as a mission conducted at night. They were usually assassination missions, so the term became popular. Imagine wolves hunting prey for dinner; we are the wolves and the prey are our targets."

"Back then?" Kakashi narrowed an eye. "Were you in ANBU before?"

"... Yes, and no."

That made him even more suspicious.

"Anyway~" sang Genma, "do you want to go dinner with me? As in 'people-eat-food' dinner?"

"Ignore him Vole," said Raido, who wasn't ready to accept defeat. "I know this great sushi place, with a nice view of a lake. It's quite beautiful, actually."

Vole waved her hand. "Ah, I must decline. I'm not one for public appearances..."

"Picnic then?" Both Genma and Raido said in unison. Both of them shot each other a glare. Lightning sparked in between them, tendrils of their chakra fighting for their love-

-Kakashi spoke up.

"We'll do the mission instead."

Badger and Hawk stared at him in mute horror.

"Since Vole is new to our team, it'd be best to witness her abilities in the field." Kakashi eyed the two with a single pupil. "After all, coordination and cooperation are what makes a good ANT. Surely you know that, Genma, Raido?"

"C-Captain-"

"I agree," piped Vole. "If we're going to work together then we should at least know what we're capable of. After all, you don't know what I can do."

Funny, it was the same question that was lingering in Kakashi's head.

"I guess..." mumbled Genma.

"Do we go back to headquarters?" asked Raido.

"We'll find a mission later," said Kakashi, mouth slightly pursing. "Since we're here, let's all spar."

"Good idea," nodded Vole. "So, who wants to spar with me first?"

Silence.

Kakashi groaned for the umpteenth time. Somehow, even after numerous missions involving females, Genma and Raido looked as though they'd never hit a girl.

He sighed. "Looks like I'm first."

* * *

Side-note: Next chapter is Kakashi VS Vole, the mysterious ANBU recruit. What is our OC capable of?! *dramatic piano chord*

Arigato to Excile and Twisty for reviewing! I'm glad that the prologue already kicked ass.

Slow updates, but that's to be expected. I'll make it fun, though, to anybody who may read this story (ehe). Vole has a kekkai genkai. Have a guess as to what it may be. It's one I made up myself, so be crazy as you like ;F


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